Small scare this weekend

I want to preface this post by saying NOBODY was physically injured, I promise. Scooter is OK.

So this weekend Scooter and I went to the city on Friday to get some work done at the office and spend some time with Jenna before she went back to the states. We went out to Teacher’s Bar, our spot in the city, and had a few drinks with other PCVs and some visiting RPCVs and friends. At about 10:30pm, Scooter, Gracey, and I (Gracey was Moz 13 and the National REDES coordinator before me, now here doing an internship with USAID for the summer) got a cab back home. We went to the taxi “stand” out in front of the hotel we were next to, where it’s super easy to get a cab but you always have to fight to get the right price. After arguing a bit with one driver, who refused to give us the correct price, another driver walked up and said “150mets, yes, that’s fine. Let’s go.” We agreed on 150mets to drop us in two locations that are on the same street, only about 1km away from each other. When we dropped Gracey off, the driver decided he wanted more money, and he wouldn’t take Scoot and I home until we agree to pay more. So we got out of the car to walk home (it was a well lit street and no more than a 10 minute walk). The driver jumped out of the car, “Women don’t slam doors!” We argued for what seemed like a few minutes about the price. I think what upset him the most was the fact that two women were standing up to him. Well, Scoot tossed the money into the car, “Fine, we’ll walk. We’re done with you.” As we walk away, I had a weird feeling. I was on the sidewalk (which is virtually nonexistent) and Scoot was barely in the road. All of the sudden, Scoot was on her back at my feet. The driver had HIT HER WITH HIS CAR! (Again I will take this opportunity to say Scooter is fine, she was not hurt by the car). Of course he sped off and I was not able to get the license plate number (yes it would’ve been helpful but I was a bit more focused on Scoot on the ground.) After he sped off and Scoot was on her feet, not bleeding or hurting, we stopped and thought about what had just happened. Did he actually do that? How could he do that? Yes, we were pissed at him and clearly he was upset with us, but to run us over with his car? Well, we called our Safety and Security Officer to explain the situation. The next day we went to track him down (we didn’t have his name, number, or license plate number) but we found out who he was and when he’d be working next. Scoot and I had to come back home, but the SSO is working to clear up the situation.

The driver hit Scooter perfectly, in a sense that it terrified her (and me), knocked her down, but did not hurt her. I don’t want to say I go around pissing people off, but I am a strong woman in a male dominant society. I’ve never thought something like this (or more extreme) could happen, especially over something as trivial as the price of a 2 minute cab ride. Again, Scoot is fine, but the event has shaken us up a little. And lowered (if that was even possible) my opinion of men in this country.